Humidification equipment for gases

ABSTRACT

A humidifier for gas comprising a liquid tank, gas inlet means projecting axially into a liquid introducing means for sucking in of liquid, said liquid introducing means having a larger inside cross-sectional area than said gas inlet means, said gas inlet means and liquid introducing means having a common radial opening through which the gas supplied can be blown out together with the sucked in liquid as a gas jet containing liquid particles, and a diffuser arranged in the tank opposite said common radial opening for the dividing of the liquid particles in said gas jet.

United States Patent J ohannisson [54] HUMIDIFICATION EQUIPMENT FORGASES [72] Inventor: Dag Olof Alfred Johannisson, Lidingo,

Sweden [73] Assignee: AGA Aktiebolag, Lidingo, Sweden [22] Filed: April15, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 28,737

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data April 17, 1969 Sweden ..5404/69[52] 0.8. CI. ..26l/76, 128/194 [58] Field of Search ..261/76; 128/194,186

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,605,764 8/1952 Adams eta1. ..128/194 X 2,720,388 10/1955 Dorsak et al ..261/76 2,598,447 5/1952Schultz ..261/76 [451 July 18,1972

2,551,538 5/1951 Hensel ..261/76 X 642,211 1/1900 Dorment.. 128/1943,467,072 9/1969 Toesca ....26l/76 2,709,577 5/1955 Pohndorf et al.....261/76 2,980,344 4/1961 Marasco 128/194 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 88,403 l/196O Denmark 128/194 Primary Examiner-Tim R. MilesAttorney-Larson and Taylor [5 7] ABSTRACT A humidifier for gascomprising a liquid tank, gas inlet means projecting axially into aliquid introducing means for sucking in of liquid, said liquidintroducing means having a larger inside cross-sectional area than saidgas inlet means, said gas inlet means and liquid introducing meanshaving a common radial opening through which the gas supplied can beblown out together with the sucked in liquid as a gas jet containingliquid particles, and a difiuser arranged in the tank opposite saidcommon radial opening for the dividing of the liquid particles in saidgas jet.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Patented July 18, 1972 INVENTOR DAG OLOFALFRED JOHANNISSON ATTORNEYS HUMIDIFICATION EQUIPMENT FOR GASES Thepresent invention relates to humidification equipment for gases. Moreparticularly, the present invention is directed to a humidifier forgases capable of producing very fine liquid particles of uniform size.

Humidification equipment for gases is frequently of the type comprisinga tank for the liquid, a first pipe leading into the tank intended forthe gas feed, one end of which projects axially into a second pipeintended to suck in the liquid and which has a somewhat larger diameterthan the first pipe. The two pipes have a common radial opening throughwhich the gas supplied can be blown out together with the liquid suckedin. In the process liquid particles are formed in the gas jet.

One disadvantage of this type of equipment is that the liquid particleswill be of varying sizes. Relatively large particles may remain for aconsiderable time suspended in the gas. In particular in cases where thegas is to be used for medical purposes, such as narcosis gas etc., thisrepresents a serious drawback.

These shortcomings of this type of prior art humidifier are overcome byhumidification equipment comprising a liquid tank, gas inlet meansprojecting axially into a liquid introducing means for sucking in ofliquid, said liquid introducing means having a larger insidecross-sectional area than said gas inlet means, said gas inlet means andliquid introducing means having a common radial opening through whichthe gas supplied can be blown out together with the sucked in liquid asa gas jet containing liquid particles, and a diffuser arranged in thetank opposite said common radial opening for the dividing of the liquidparticles in said gas jet.

The apparatus of the invention thus enables the liquid particles to bedivided into very fine particles such as into a dust or haze which isfine enough to be suitable for medical uses.

Advantageously, the apparatus includes means such as a suction pipedirected into the tank for withdrawing the divided liquid particles. Thediffuser is preferable arranged on the liquid withdrawing means and inone embodiment is discshaped with a concave impingement surface for theliquid particles contained in the gas jet. The gas inlet means and theliquid introducing means are advantageously revolvable so that thecommon opening they possess can be adjusted relative to the diffuser todirect the gas jet thereto tangentially.

In the following description a preferred embodiment of the inventionwill be described with reference to the enclosed drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the apparatus of the invention and FIG. 2is a cross-sectional view of reduced size taken along line ll-ll' ofFIG. 1 when the diffuser is non-circular.

A tank I is provided with liquid 2. From the cover 3 gas introductionmeans 4 is inserted into the tank 1 and is communicatably connected byconnecting means 5 with integral means generally designated 6 whichcomprises a liquid introducing conduit 7 having a passageway 8 and a gasinlet portion 9 having a gas inlet passageway 10. Gas inlet portion 9contains a tip 11 which projects into passageway 8 and is provided withan opening 12 which provides communication between passageway 8 andpassageway 10. The inside diameter of liquid introducing conduit 7 issubstantially greater than that of gas inlet portion 9. Liquidintroducing conduit 7 is provided with an opening 13 in axial alignmentwith opening 10 of tip 11. Thus, openings 10 and 13 provide a commonradial opening through which the gas together with liquid particles isblown out into the tank 1. For the dividing of the liquid particles adiffuser 14 is arranged opposite the axially aligned openings 12 and 13.It has the form of a disc and is mounted on a suction pipe 15 for thehumidified gas. The impingement surface of the diffuser disc 14 isconcave, which has proved to give a very fine liquid haze.

By making gas inlet portion 9 and liquid introducing conduit 7revolvable the common opening defined by axially aligned openings 10 and13 can be adjusted into different positions in respect to the diffuser14. As a result the gas jet can be directed more or less tangentially aainst the diffuser so that various sizes of liquid particles can eachieved. Another way of directing the gas jet more or less tangentialto the diffuser, consists in making the form of the diffusernon-circular. It may be, for example, elliptical as shown in FIG. 2,triangular or a combination thereof or any other suitable form. Bymaking the difiuser revolving the gas jet may be made to impinge on thediffuser more or less tangentially.

Any liquid particles, which by chance have not been divided by thediffuser 14, are collected by the outside wall of the suction pipe 15 todrops which are returned to the liquid 2 in the tank 1. It has beenfound appropriate to design the suction pipe 15 with a conical end 16which reduces the risk of an ex traction of liquid drops.

It is claimed:

1. A humidifier for gas comprising a liquid tank, gas inlet meansprojecting axially into a liquid introducing means for sucking in ofliquid, said liquid introducing means having a larger insidecross-sectional area than said gas inlet means, said gas inlet means andliquid introducing means having a common radial opening through whichthe gas supplied can be blown out together with the sucked in liquid asa gas jet containing liquid particles, a disc-shaped diffuser for thedividing of the liquid particles in said gas jet, a suction pipe havinga conical base directed into the tank for withdrawing the divided liquidparticles, said disc-shaped diffuser having a concave impingment surfacefor the liquid particles and being arranged on said suction pipe in thetank opposite said common radial opening.

2. The humidifier of claim 1 wherein the gas inlet means and liquidintroducing means are adjustably revolvable.

3. The humidifier of claim 1 wherein the diffuser is of non circularform and revolvable to a position such that the gas jet can be made toimpinge tangentially with respect to the diffuser.

1. A humidifier for gas comprising a liquid tank, gas inlet meansprojecting axially into a liquid introducing means for sucking in ofliquid, said liquid introducing means having a larger insidecross-sectional area than said gas inlet means, said gas inlet means andliquid introducing means having a common radial opening through whichthe gas supplied can be blown out together with the sucked in liquid asa gas jet containing liquid particles, a disc-shaped diffuser for thedividing of the liquid particles in said gas jet, a suction pipe havinga conical base directed into the tank for withdrawing the divided liquidparticles, said disc-shaped diffuser having a concave impingment surfacefor the liquid particles and being arranged on said suction pipe in thetank opposite said common radial opening.
 2. The humidifier of claim 1wherein the gas inlet means and liquid introducing means are adjustablyrevolvable.
 3. The humidifier of claim 1 wherein the diffuser is ofnon-circular form and revolvable to a position such that the gas jet canbe made to impinge tangentially with respect to the diffuser.